Tiny cars, microcars, a cinquecento & an EV future

When I first came to Europe I was fascinated by the way small cars were so normal. While most are simply what we’d call compact cars or subcompacts, there are whole classes of cars I hadn’t seen until I arrived here.

Microcars became popular in Europe post WWI and were often motorcycle based. The smallest microcar ever built was the Peal P50 big enough for “one adult and a shopping bag” it cost just 199 pounds when it was on the market back in the early 60s.

Today, the most well-known microcar is probably the Smart for Two, but the future for this tiny class is definitely electric.

Over the past couple years I’ve scouted a selection of tiny EVs. In this video, I’ve collected my favorites, from NEVs to PEVs to pedal-assisted tiny electrics.